Solitary Shadows
by RacheyRagdoll
Summary: Phil has left Dan for the week to visit his family, but how will Dan cope being alone so close to Halloween?


Dan sighed as he aimlessly scrolled Tumblr, barely paying attention to the endless gifs and pictures, his mind elsewhere. He hated being home alone, and with

winter approaching, the days were getting shorter. Dan glanced out the window at the night sky. It had gotten dark around him without him noticing, his laptop

screen now his only source of light. Dan put the laptop down on his bed, attempting to get to the light switch without falling over the piles of clothes strewn

across his floor. He had meant to use the day to tidy up the apartment before his flatmate arrived back home in a couple of days, but he just didn't have the

motivation to do anything productive, and instead had wasted the day scrolling Tumblr, playing video games and checking twitter at regular intervals.

Dan climbed back onto his bed and picked up the laptop, changing from the Tumblr tab to Twitter. Ignoring the hundreds of messages from his fans, he quickly

found his flatmates twitter page. His heart sank as he realised that Phil had not posted a new tweet since the last time he had checked. Dan sighed as he shut

down his laptop. He grabbed his phone and quickly checked it for new messages before sticking it in his pocket and opening his bedroom door to the darkened

hallway. Dan paused, nervously peeking out the doorway and up the hall. Dan had an irrational fear of the dark. He knew it was stupid, and that that twenty-

three years old he shouldn't be afraid of such childish things, but his imagination always seemed to run away with him, thinking about what could be lurking in

the shadows. He was a firm disbeliever of anything supernatural, but the supernatural is what terrified him the most.

Having Phil at home seemed to ease Dan into a false sense of safety. It wasn't as if Dan thought that Phil would be able to save him if anything were to attack

him. Dan just felt more comfortable with another human presence close by. If Phil were there, Dan wouldn't think twice about walking into the hallway and

switching on the light, but being home alone was quite a different matter.

Dan unlocked his phone and quickly found the torch app. Although it was not very bright, he could now at least see that Phil's house plant was not a demon

ready to grab him the minute he stepped outside his bedroom. Dan quickly moved over to the light-switch and flicked it on, relief flooding him the second he

was able to see that the hall way was empty.

Dan made his way to the kitchen. He couldn't be bothered to cook just for himself, so he made himself a bowl of cereal, making sure to keep the worktop free of

crumbs. He couldn't allow Phil to think that he was incapable of looking after the apartment by himself. Dan sat down to eat his cereal, taking his phone out his

pocket and scrolling through his list of contacts until he found Phil's name. Should he call him? He had face-timed with Phil earlier in the day, and had texted him

a couple of times while Phil had been out hiking with his family, but he had not contacted him for the last five hours. Dan hovered his thumb over Phil's name

before sighing and sticking the phone back in his pocket. There was no denying that he missed Phil, but his best friend was having a good time with his family.

Dan didn't want to bring him down. He was glad that Phil was happy and didn't seem to be missing him. It was good to have a break from each other every

once in a while. At least, that's what he told himself.

Dan's phone buzzed, making him jump. He quickly opened it, realizing that it was a text from Phil.

_Don't look now but there is an army of spooky ghost llamas behind you._

Dan smiled as he texted Phil back.

_You're still alive after doing exercise then?_

The reply came back almost immediately.

_I think I might have died. I am now ghost Phil_

Dan smiled at the stupid ghost emojis Phil had left at the end of the message.

_I guess I'll rent out your room if you're not coming back then_

_Noooo I'm coming back in two days to haunt you._

Two days wasn't long, but to Dan it seemed like a lifetime away. He missed their late night talks, their movie marathons, the gaming videos. He had attempted

to continue spooky week without Phil, but it just wasn't as fun without his best friend sitting next to him, making stupid jokes and trying to make him jump.

_Are you missing me?_

Phil texted, as if reading Dan's mind.

_Why would I miss you?_

Dan asked, knowing Phil would see right through the lie.

_I miss you._

Dan's heart raced as he read the text over. Did Phil really miss him, or was he just saying that? Phil rarely lied to anyone. Was it possible that he missed Dan,

despite the fun he was having with his family? Dan's fingers hovered over the keypad as he tried to think of what he should say, but before he could write

anything, another text came through from Phil.

_I should sleep now. Don't stay up too late. Goodnight!_

Dan knew that he should say something. That he missed Phil, that he couldn't wait for him to get home, but all he wrote were two words

_Good Night_

Dan was woken up by the sound of his phone buzzing. He groaned as he reached across his bed to grab it, his eyes still blurry as he read the new message./

_Good morning. Did the demons attack you in the night? Hope you're still alive!_

Despite the early hour, Dan smiled at the text from his friend.

_Thanks for waking me up dickhead_

Dan replied, knowing that Phil would not take it personally.

_Wakeywakey eggs and bacey_

Phil replied, including emojis of a fried egg and a pig. Dan smiled and shook his head. Phil was so stupid sometimes, but Dan wouldn't change him for the world.

Dan shivered as he walked back to his room. He had just spent the last four hours editing and uploading a new danisnotonfire video, and as the sun had

started to set, the warmth had also disappeared. Putting on the heating wasn't an option, as Phil's house plant was so close to the radiator that it would be in

danger of dying. Dan was too lazy to move the plant, so he was just going to have to put on some warmer clothes. He paused at the door to Phil's room. He

had not been inside since Phil had left. He had no need to, and he felt as if he should not go into Phil's room while he was gone, but Phil did have warmer and

comfier hoodies than Dan, and they shared clothes all the time anyway. Surely Phil wouldn't mind him borrowing a hoodie to stop him from freezing to death.

Dan opened the door, making sure to turn on the light before entering. The room was unusually tidy, Phil having taken a lot of his belongings with him and put

away the rest. The room still smelt of Phil, and Dan took comfort in that. Dan opened Phil's closet, searching for the green hoodie that he had borrowed multiple

times before. He put it on and pulled the hood up, wrapping his arms around himself. It was considerably warmer in Phil's room than it was in the rest of the

apartment. Maybe he would just stay here for a little while, he was sure that Phil wouldn't mind. He often spent hours sitting on Phil's bed, talking to him into

the early hours of the morning. He missed his late night chats with Phil about everything and nothing. Dan picked up Lion from the dresser, wondering why Phil

had decided to leave him behind. He climbed onto Phil's bed with Lion still clutched in his hand and curled up on top of the duvet.

He hadn't thought it was possible to miss Phil this much. He had only been gone for five days, but Dan felt as if his heart was breaking. What would he do if Phil

ever decided to move out? Dan closed his eyes, trying to block out his own thoughts. He knew Phil wouldn't want to live with him forever, but he couldn't bring

himself to think about having to live alone. There was no one else in the world who he would rather live with. Dan held onto Lion tighter, breathing in the smell

of Phil's cologne that still clung to the bedsheets. He couldn't imagine living in a world where Phil was permanently not with him. Where instead of across the

hallway, he was across the city, or even across the country. Dan allowed himself to be consumed by his thoughts, tears stinging his eyes, threatening to fall.

No, no matter how much he missed Phil, he would not allow himself to cry over him. He was clearly overreacting. Phil had never even so much as hinted that he

didn't want them to live together any more. Phil's absence had allowed Dan too much time to think, making up the worst case scenarios. Phil was not leaving

him, Phil had told him he missed him. He would be back a day. Dan just had to keep himself busy until then.

Phil climbed the stairs to his apartment, dragging his suitcase behind him. He stopped to catch his breath before fumbling for his keys. Luckily he hadn't

accidentally left them somewhere this time, or Dan would be getting an unexpected wake up call. Phil had decided to come back a day early to surprise Dan. He

knew Dan had probably stayed up late last night, so he decided he was going to take a nap for a couple of hours before waking him. Phil quietly made his way

past Dan's bedroom, resisting the temptation to peek inside. He dragged his suitcase into his own room, deciding he was unpack later. Phil turned towards his

bed and screamed as he realized it was not empty.

"What the fuck," he heard a familiar voice come from his bed.

"Dan?" Phil asked, his heart still racing. "What the hell are you doing?" he said as he switched on the light to get a better look at Dan who was now sitting up,

rubbing his eyes.

"Well I was sleeping until you screamed at me," Dan said, squinting up at Phil. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I could ask you the same question," Phil replied, taking in the image of Dan laying in his bed wearing his hoodie and holding Lion.

"I was cold and I- came in here and-,"Dan stuttered, trying and failing to explain as he, dropped Lion onto the bed.

"You missed me more than I thought you would," Phil said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Shut up," Dan said, blushing and avoiding looking at Phil. "I was just cold so I came in here to borrow a hoodie and-"

"Fell asleep in my bed?"Phil finished for him.

"Why are you back anyway?" Dan repeated. "You weren't meant to come back until tomorrow."

"Thanks for making me feel so welcome," Phil joked. "I decided to come back early to surprise you," Phil explained. "Although I'm probably more surprised over

finding you in my bed wearing my hoodie."

"I told you I was cold," Dan said, not wanting to get back onto that topic.

"Then why didn't you wear your own clothes?" Phil asked.

"I like this one and- I was thinking about you and I-" Dan stopped, realising he was rambling.

"And?" Phil asked.

"I missed you so I wore your hoodie," Dan said quickly, attempting to hide his face in Phil's pillow.

"I missed you too," Phil said, moving closer to Dan and wrapping his arms round him. "You should have called me more often if you missed me this much."

"I couldn't. You were having fun with your family and I didn't want to take that away from you by telling you how much I missed you,"Dan said, allowing Phil to

hold him.

"But I missed you just as much," Phil said, continuing even with Dan looking at him sceptically. "Yes I had fun, but I kept thinking about how much better it

would have been with you with me."

"Yea right, I bet you barely thought about me," Dan said, giving Phil a playful push.

"But I did. You would have laughed at my mountain lion jokes and worried that bears were probably going to eat our faces. It was actually my parents idea for

me to leave early. They were sick of me talking about you."

"You were talking about me to your family?" Dan laughed. "Aren't you meant to talk about girlfriends or something?"

"Well you're the closest thing I have to a girlfriend," Phil teased.

"Fuck off," Dan said, hitting Phil lightly.

"My room, my rules," Phil joked, laying down next to Dan.

"I hate you," Dan said, resting his head against Phil's shoulder.

"Don't lie to me Daniel. You should go back to sleep. I wasn't going to wake you but you surprised me by being asleep in my bed."

"More like you screamed in my face. But I'm glad you woke me up. It meant I got to see you sooner."

"I'm sorry for leaving you. I'll make you breakfast later to make up for it. Deal?" Phil asked.

"Deal," Dan smiled, happy to have his best friend back.


End file.
